Little Reads: Good Morning, Good Night Yoga

Yoga for kids is all the rage these days. These books especially. We checked Good Night Yoga out from the library a couple of times, and Isla loved it. So for Christmas this year, Santa brought her a yoga mat and these two awesome books.

Good Morning Yoga is a newer release that came out last March as a companion to Good Night Yoga. The book is filled with a very simple, text light story, that follows a simple yoga sequence. 

The illustrations are adorable. 

Quintessential downward dog pose. I love the addition of an actual dog.

With each pose, there is a short mantra about breathing and the pose you're doing.

Good Night Yoga was the original that came out in 2015. (I was surprised to see it's been out that long.)

Darling front end papers.

This is Isla's favorite pose. She can hit a tree pose like no one's business.

These books make cute, short, stories to read alone if you need a quick bedtime story, and of course, they're great for their primary inended purpose - getting kids doing yoga. Focusing on their breathing, practicing mindfulness. Every home and classroom would benefit from the use of these books. We have so much fun doing yoga together and these books are a wonderful, kid-friendly introduction.

Have you and your kids read these? What did you think?

Bookish Craft: Bunny Slopes

Guys, we did the simplest book craft today to go along with Bunny Slopes. And it was so much fun.

Bunny Slopes is about a bunny who wants to go skiing, but there isn't any snow. So the reader makes snow for the bunny by shaking the book. So I though we would make some snow today.

It was seriously the simplest craft/project/whatever we've ever done. You only need two ingredients - 3 cups of baking soda and 1/2 cup of conditioner (white, so it will be snow colored.)

Then you just mix it up. It's cool, a little bit slippery, smells good, and is really fun to bury My Little Pony figurines in. And it makes a huge mess, but it's easy to clean up.

I think it gets the Isla seal of approval. 

Do you do book related crafts? If so, tell me about them!

Little Reads: Bunny Slopes

Have you guys read Bunny Slopes yet? It's so cute!

A little bunny would really like to go skiing. But there's no snow! So, you create the snow by shaking the book. Then shaking it harder to make more snow.

Until there's too much snow, so you have to tap the top of the book to pack it down.

The reader helps the bunny tackle all sorts of obstacles until he lands (literally) back in his home to have some hot chocolate with his mom. It's a beautifully illustrated, super fun, interactive read perfect for fans of  Mix It Up, Press Here, and Don't Push the Button!, which is one of Isla's all time favorites. 

What are your favorite interactive books?

Best of 2016 - Little Reads Edition

We read some fantastic books this year!

Isla's getting a little older (she's 4 now - how has this happened?) so we're started introducing early chapter books. While still reading a ton of picture books. This girl loves to read and I love to read with her.

Flora and the Flamingo might just be my favorite picture book of all time. It was the very first book featured on our instagram page and the first picture book we reviewed on the blog. It simply doesn't get more beautiful than the Flora books by Molly Idle.

Chrysanthemum is a delightful story about a little girl learning to accept herself as she is. You can never go wrong with Kevin Henkes, right?

The Princess in Black series is awesome! They are such fun books with lots of girl power. We've checked all of these out from the library a couple of times, so I think it might be time to just buy them for our home library.

The Elephant and Piggie series is a modern classic. These books are so silly and so fun and Isla has memorized several of them cover to cover. Our favorites are We Are In A Book, There Is A Bird On Your Head, and I Really Like Slop.

Mother Bruce is hilarious. This poor grumpy bear accidentally adopts some baby geese and has to raise them all on his own. Hi-jinks and hilarity ensue.

Poor Little Guy is the story of a little puffer fish who has had enough. It's a great example of why you shouldn't judge a book by it's cover and also a great example of standing up for yourself. Plus the illustrations and lettering are beautiful.

Rosie Revere Engineer is a wonderful book for little girls (and boys) about following your dreams. Deep down in Rosie's heart she wants so badly to be an engineer, but has been laughed at in the past, so she keeps her dreams to herself. Until her Great Aunt Rose shows up, that is. This story has excellent rhythm and rhyming and is a delight to read while delivering a great message.

Swatch is another beautiful picture book. It's about a little girl who wrangles and collects color, until one day she realizes that colors need to be free. It's wild and gorgeous and vibrant.

Once Upon An Alphabet is a book of short stories for all the letters. It's a great big orange book that looks amazing on a shelf. (And when you open it.) You can't go wrong with Oliver Jeffers, either. It's funny and silly and has those quintessential Oliver Jeffers illustrations.

Max the Brave is the story of a brave little kitten who chases mice. Or he would chase mice, if only he knew what mice looked like. After a run in with a monster he believes is a mouse, Max decides he doesn't need to be brave all the time. Only when chasing monsters (who are actually mice.)

What were your little's favorites this year?

Little Reads: Tickle Monster

It's nearly Christmas, guys. If you're anything like me, you've been thinking about Christmas gifts for ages, so I thought I would take these last six weeks to share books that would make great gifts for littles.

First up? Tickle Monster. Have you seen this one yet? Santa actually brought this one to Isla last year for Christmas and it's been a hit every time we bring it out.

Little Reads: I Am A Witch's Cat

Since it's almost Halloween, I thought I would share with you guys one of my favorite Halloween picture books - I Am A Witch's Cat. I love this book so much. It's about a little girl who is certain that her mom is a good witch. All the evidence points to her being one - you know, all the usual mom stuff. Potions in the bathroom, buying jars of eyeballs at the grocery store, magicking booboos better... This illustrations are just beautiful! They are a combination of drawing and cut paper 3D scenes. Let's take a peek after the jump. 

Library Haul

It's been a minute, but I'm back with another library haul post. I know you've missed these, so let's dive in and see what Isla and I picked out this week after the jump.

Big Reads AND Little Reads: Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone Illustrated

Let's talk about Harry Potter, shall we? It's kind for all ages, I think. Though, that may be because I started reading it as a young person, but I'm not so sure. I've been listening to the audiobooks and it's just as amazing as an adult.

I'm not going to get much into the story of Harry Potter because we all know it well. If you don't, WHAT'S WRONG WITH YOU?!?! Please stop everything you're doing and read those books. Take a reading vacation from work. Pretend you have mono. Run away for a couple of weeks so you can get some peace and quiet in order to read. I don't know... do something and read these books. 

If you haven't been living under a rock, you probably know that there are illustrated editions out now. I believe the plan is to release a new book once a year until they're all done. This weekend I picked up Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone. In case you were wondering if this book is worth the $40 it costs in store, let me help you decide. The answer is yes, btw. Just putting that out there. Also, it's much cheaper on Amazon, if that's your thing. Let's take a peek at this beast of a book. (after the jump)

Little Reads: Bloom

Tell them there's no such thing as an ordinary girl.

Bloom is no ordinary fairy. Oh, sure, she has magic and has built an entire crystal kingdom, but she also stomps around with enormously heavy footsteps, has muddy feet, dirt in her teeth, and bugs in her wings. The people of this beautiful kingdom Bloom created soon grew tired of her being so messy and heavy and loud, so they parted ways.

As one might expect, a crystal kingdom isn't so sturdy, and soon enough the kingdom is being held together by duct tape. The king decides to seek out Bloom and have her fix the kingdom.

He's not successful. He's not very nice about it, either.

So his wife, the queen, decides to try her hand.

She's not successful, either. Also, unsurprisingly, not very nice.

The king and queen decide that Bloom just doesn't respond well to royalty, so they send the most ordinary girl in the entire castle. Genevieve.

Bloom shows Genevieve that she's not ordinary - she's extraordinary - and sends her on her way back to save the kingdom.

Bloom is an empowering story about recognizing your own worth and realizing that none of us are ordinary; we're all extraordinary. The illustrations are just beautiful and the message is timeless. Definitely pick this one up to read with your little (or big) people.

Have you read Bloom? What empowering books have you read lately?

Book Craft: Chrysanthemum

Yesterday, we read Chrysanthemum. So today, we're doing a craft to showcase our special names. I'm not a crafty or artistic person, so this is definitely not Pinterest worthy, but Isla sure did have fun doing this.

Here's what you'll need for this craft:

Little Reads: Chrysanthemum

Chrysanthemum is the story of a little mouse learning to accept herself. And it's a classic for good reason.

Little Reads: Flashlight

Flashlight by Lizi Boyd is such a different and creative wordless picture book.  It's the story of a little boy out in nature after dark, looking at the world with his flashlight.

Library Haul

New week - new library haul! It's a small haul this week because one of the libraries we visit only allows you to check out five item from the children's section at a time, which, personally I think is a crime, but I don't make the rules.

We made the most of those limited choices count though. Here's what we got:

Little Reads: A Perfectly Messed Up Story

Oh, Louie's story. My old friend. This book will always be very dear to me because it's the first book that Isla ever "read" (recited.) We read this book so, so many times. It was her only request for so long. We haven't read it in a while, but I pulled it off our shelf the other day and read it again. It's still great, in case you were wondering.

A Perfectly Messed Up Story is about how things can still be good even if they aren't perfect. Louie lives in this book and as he's strolling along the pages, they just get messier and messier with normal kid messes. Things like orange juice, markers, peanut butter and jelly, etc.

Louie gets very frustrated and gives up on trying to tell his story, but quickly reconsiders once he realizes that his book is still good, even if it is messy. It's proof that his book has been well used and well loved. What more can a book ask for?

"And now that you don't have to be perfect, you can be good." -John Steinbeck

Have you read this one? What's the first book your little one could recite from memory?

Little Reads: The Little Prince

Over the past week and half, Isla and I have been reading The Little Prince. She wasn't too into it, but liked for me to read it as she was falling asleep. Me on the other hand? I was definitely into it. The Little Prince is such a beautiful story! So simple, with just gorgeous language... I loved it. I never read it as a child and I was excited to finally read this classic.

For the only other person out there, like me, who never read this book, The Little Prince is the story of a little prince (obviously) who lives on a planet just bigger than he is. He takes good care of his planet, tending to his volcanoes and removing the baobabs until one day a beautiful flower grows out of the blue. The little prince continues to care for the flower, but she is very vain and demanding, so he takes off. He visits a few other planets, meeting a few other grownups, before landing on Earth. He's not impressed with grownups. A pilot crashes his plane in the Sahara Desert and finds the little prince who has been searching for a friend. The little prince tells him a few stories and asks him a lot of questions and finally decides that he needs to go home, back to his flower.

It really is a beautiful story and I can absolutely see why it's such a classic. I will definitely revisit this when Isla gets a little older.

We picked it up from the library because I've been seeing ads for the movie that was just released on Netflix a couple of weeks ago. We were reading in order to watch the movie. 

Yesterday we watched it. Or, I watched it. Isla watched it for about 15 minutes, then she was moving on to other activities. I think the book was a little over her head, and I was hoping the movie would hold her attention a little more, but I feel like both would be better for older kids (she's 3 for frame of reference.)

The movie was completely different from the book. The book was more of a story within the story of the movie. The movie is about a very serious little girl who happens to move in next door to the pilot from the book (he's an old man by now.) They get to know each other and he helps her loosen up and be a child again. He has worried about his little prince since they parted ways so many years before, so the little girl goes searching for him. What she finds is pretty surprising, so I won't give it away. 

The movie itself was just beautiful and it was very interesting to see the angle they took with the classic book. It's definitely worth a viewing - and I would highly recommend doing both: read the book, then watch the movie.

Have you read this classic or seen the new movie? What did you think?

Library Haul

I did something a little different for this weeks library trip:

I went alone and requested most of my pickups online so they were ready when I got there. It was much less stressful this way. I know Isla needs to go with me, but man was this easier.

I picked up a few things I was excited to read and a lot that I knew she would love.

Mercy Watson, the porcine wonder. Isla loves these books. Mercy Watson To The Rescue was the first chapter book I ever read to Isla and she absolutely loved it (when we were in the car and she couldn't escape to do anything else. Ha.) But she does request it every time we're driving to her great-granparents house. So I picked up the third installment, Mercy Watson Fights Crime, because my library only had the 3rd, 4th, and 7th books. Why? Get more books, library! Mercy Watson Fights Crime certainly doesn't disappoint. Mercy gets tucked into bed one night, and wakes up a while later hearing the sound of someone making toast in the kitchen (her very favorite snack.) Turns out, no one is making toast, it's a little cowboy wannabe who is robbing the place! Mercy Watson accidentally saves the day, as she usually does. It's a cute book with just enough illustrations to hold the attention of pre-readers. Plus the page numbers are written on little slices of hot buttered toast.

There is a Tribe of Kids is a beautiful little book about what groups on animals are called: a colony of penguins, a pod of whales, a parade of elephants, etc. The illustrations are just delightful with a small child going on a journey with each group of animals, acting as they do. Is he just exploring with the animals or searching for his own tribe? In the end he finds a tribe of kids he can belong to.

Grandpa Green is also by Lane Smith. It the story of a little boy spending time with his great-grandfather. The little boy is basically telling the story of his great-grandfathers life. His great grandfather is a wonderful horticulturist, and the story is told through his carving and shaping of bushes and trees. This was especially sweet to me since Isla is so close to her great-grandfather. It's a sweet story with beautiful illustrations.

Can you believe I've never read The Little Prince? This may be a little over Isla's head, but I've never read it and I want to watch the new movie on Netflix. So I'm reading this to Isla little by little over the week and I hope we can watch The Little Prince for next week's family movie night.

We can never go wrong with Elephant & Piggie. I think it may have been a mistake to check these out from the library - I should have just bought them, Isla loves them so much. My favorite from this stack is Waiting Is Not Easy. I love the star scene at the end. Isla's favorite is I Really Like Slop, because of Gerald's reaction to trying slop. So funny.

Journey is the first installment in a three book series of wordless picture books that are Harold and the Purple Crayon for older kids. A young girl, bored one day in her very grey world, draws a red door on her bedroom door and goes through to a colorful forest with lanterns hanging in the trees. She comes to a stream, so she draws a little red boat. The boat goes over a waterfall, so she draws a hot air balloon. She has quite the adventure and meets a friend who is as imaginative and creative as she is. I love wordless picture books because the story can change with each reading. And even if your littles can't read words yet, they can read these books just by describing what's going on on the pages. 

The Adventures of Beekle: The Unimaginary Friend is the story of an imaginary friend who is tired of waiting for his person, so he decides to go find her. This book uses color beautifully, vibrant and wild in the imaginary world, then grey everything in the real world, until he meets his friend. It's a lovely little story about going after what you want instead of just waiting around for it to happen (a lesson I need to be reminded of regularly.) And also about making friends - it's not that hard, you just have to put yourself out there.

I picked up All the World because it had a pink spine. (It's hard to search through all those books in the library - the pink stood out.) This was the only pick this week that rhymed. All the World is a simple, but beautiful, story about everyday life. It's about family, food, and nature and the illustrations are beautiful. Pick this one up for a calm read in the midst of silly ones like Elephant & Piggie. It would be great as the last book before bedtime.

What did you pick up at the library this week?

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Little Reads: Elephant & Piggie

What is there to say about Elephant & Piggie that hasn't already been said? My daughter loves these books. They are definite repeat reads at bedtime at our house. They're simple, funny, and clever. They're also somewhere between picture book and early reader, making them great for many ages. 

We Are In A Book was our first foray into Elephant & Piggie, and what a wonderful place to start. This is the story of Elephant & Piggie discovering that they are, in fact, in a book. They have fun with this by making the reader read a silly word out loud. And just when it's Gerald's turn to make the reader say something silly, he discovers that the book will end - and soon! He, of course, is distraught, borderline inconsolable, but Piggie has a solution. The book can always be read again. After we read this one, I knew we had to add more to out library.

Enter Can I Play Too? It's a wonderful little book about sharing and helping your friends join in even if things may be challenging at first. Gerald and Piggie decide to play catch one day, when their friend, Snake, wants to join in. Well, it's a little hard for a snake to play catch when he doesn't have any arms. Pick this one up to see the hilarious solution they come up with. I also learned that Piggie is a girl in this book... I had no idea. I just assumed they were both boys.

Have you read any Elephant and Piggie books? Which ones are your favorite?

Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links which may help support our book buying habit in order to bring your more reviews and recommendations.

P.S. Look out for that famous Mo Willems pigeon. He's hiding in each of these books.